Children’s rights action needed urgently say Brown and Watkins

CHILD labour, child marriage, child trafficking and discrimination, including against girls, is now so widespread that a new and urgent action is necessary 国产视频� including exploration of whether an international children国产视频檚 court could to stamp out violations of children国产视频檚 rights.

On the国产视频� eve of the国产视频� 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and Overseas Development Institute Executive Director Kevin Watkins have called on the U国产视频婲 to consider the case for a human rights court for children to investigate in depth:

• 15 million child brides per year
• 15 million child labour国产视频媏rs not in school国产视频�
• 32 million girls prevented from going to school 国产视频� half a million of whom have been trafficked

The pair revealed their plea at the #UpForSchool youth rally in Southbank Centre, London. The event, titled Our Future, Our Rights 国产视频� Youth Rising #UpForSchool, was hosted by A World at School and ODI. Other guests included joint Nobel Peaxce Prize winner Kailash Yousafzai, Malala Yousafzai's school friends Kainat Riaz and Shazia Ramza, Camfed founder Ann Cotton and event host Ade Adepitan, the British TV presenter and Paralympian.

In a hard-hitting report, 国产视频嫻悠祴which will form the basis of a letter to UN Secretary国产视频�-General Ban Ki-moon, Brown and Watkins stated:

国产视频淲hile no human rights treaty is more widely ratified than the CRC, and while governments are required to report on their compliance on children国产视频檚 rights once every five years, just one in seven 国产视频� 14 % of reports 国产视频� are submitted on time and 33% are not submitted even a year later, while great weight is attached to the assessment of legislative provisions as distinct from the real enforcement of laws that enact the principles set out in the Convention.

国产视频淥nly 10 countries have ratified optional protocol on communications to allow children and their representatives to bring cases before the Committee as part of the review process. Even then the average time lag between registration and final decision in cases taken up by the Human Rights Committee is three-and-a-half years with no legal obligation on states to review and reform policies even when they are identified as being in violation of international human rights obligations.

国产视频淚t is time to consider the case for the establishment of an International Court for Children国产视频檚 Rights. If we did so we would envisage an institution modelled on the European Court on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, both of which have a remit to investigate individual petitions, independently monitor performance in member states, and review areas of concern.

国产视频淔our core areas in which the Convention and private actors should be held to legal account and, where appropriate, sanction are:

• Failure to investigate and apply appropriate criminal remedy to hazardous child labour, as defined under Article 3 of ILO Convention 182
• Failure to act on the elimination of all forms of child slavery as identified under the 1956 Convention on Slavery and subsequent instruments related to forced and bonded labour, child trafficking and other offences outlined in the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
• Failure to enact and enforce legislation outlawing marriage before the age of 15, with associated measures aimed at changing the behaviours and practices that perpetuate forced marriage
• Failure to comply with the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict; and failure to protect children against the six grave violations of rights identified under Security Council Resolution 1612 (2005)聽聽

国产视频淚n addition, we call for more countries to ratify the CRC国产视频檚 Optional Protocol on Communications with its reporting system strengthened in five key areas:

• Progress towards the reduction of inequalities in areas such as health and education, with a particular focus on the most marginalised children, including the disabled
• The implementation of policies aimed at promoting high-quality education because of its potential role in combating child labour, forced marriage and other problems
• The design and implementation of legislation on child labour, forced marriage, child trafficking and child slavery
• The actions of states failing to comply with provisions on the six grave violations of rights
• 聽Greater engagement with civil society organisations and the active encouragement of 国产视频榮hadow reports国产视频� by organisations working with children